Nice Sentiment
by ImmaGoldenGod
Summary: Bruce Banner just wanted to go back to where he was and be forgotten, but when SHEILD comes to protect Bruce from an 'interested party', Bruce and Clint are captured. The team will have to work together on their first real mission since the incident in New York to get them back.
1. Chapter 1

Bruce Banner had stayed at Stark Towers for 3 months after the incident in New York, helping with clean up and consulting with SHEILD, before he felt the need to leave. Its not that he wanted to leave, he liked living with Tony and the rest of the misfit team that he called the Avengers, it's that he _needed_ to leave.

He had been doing good in New York, he was helping. But, as Bruce learned many times in his life, good things don't last. He had to leave before he messed up and hurt someone or destroyed something.

That's why he donated the majority of the money he made from the consulting work he did with SHEILD (he wasn't doing that work for free) back to SHEILD and to New York City to assist with repair of the Helicarrier and the parts of the city the Hulk had help destroying. He took the rest of the money and bought a plane ticket to Calcutta and left.

He didn't tell anyone he was leaving, he didn't say good-bye, he didn't leave a note saying where he was going and why. He needed to disappear and he didn't need Tony or the rest of the team to convince him to stay. Because if he stayed longer, he was bound to smash something.

He arrived in Calcutta and continued where he left off before Natasha got to him. Well, he was a little better off now that he had a little money. He was able to afford a small apartment instead of bartering for a place to stay and food. Sure it was just a bedroom with a bathroom and a small kitchen attached to it, but it was more than he had before and he was grateful.

He got back into the same familiar routine that he left. He worked to help the sick and the poor and make the world a little bit of a better place. He tried to forget the team he left and he hoped they, and the rest of the world, forgot about him, they would be better off.


	2. Chapter 2

Bruce walked into his small apartment, putting his keys on the dresser and shutting the door behind him. He walked around his bed towards the lamp the only source of light in that room. He reached for the switch, when he heard papers fall behind him. He turned quickly, pulling the small revolver he kept on him and pointing it the general direction of the noise. He slowly reached for the lamp and turned it on.

"Ah, why hello Agent Romanoff." He said. The red head had pulled her gun as well pointing it had him. Bruce pulled the hammer of the gun down.

"We both know you don't like guns, Dr. Banner." She said with a smile.

"You're right." He smiled, pointing the gun towards the ceiling and pulled the trigger nothing happened. "I wasn't loaded anyway." He said throwing it on to the bed.

"You walk around with an unloaded gun?" She asked putting her gun away.

"It wasn't always unloaded. A majority of the bullets were spent in a pathetic attempt to hunt while on the run. The rest were used when I got low." He confessed.

"You attempted more than once?" She questioned.

"I thought maybe if I tried different angles it might work." He said solemnly, taking his bag off. "It didn't work. Obviously." He moved towards his kitchen. "Would you like some tea?"

"Yes, thank-you."

He nodded and went into the kitchen to put the kettle on. He popped his head back into the room to find that she had cleaned of one of the chairs to sit on. "Would Agent Barton want anything?"

The sliding glass door, which led to Bruce's small balcony, slid open. "How did you know I was there, Doc?" Clint came in, bow and quiver and all.

"You weren't exactly hiding. And you call yourself an assassin." Bruce jokes, shaking his head. He went back into the kitchen to finish making the tea.

"If I was here to kill you, you wouldn't have seen me." Clint called out.

Bruce came back into the room with a tray of 3 mismatching mugs of tea. "So, I know you're not here to kill me. What do I owe the pleasure?" He asked curiously.

"Remember the last time we were in Calcutta together, I said SHEILD was keeping some interested parties at bay?" Bruce nodded. "Well, we tried giving you some space, but an 'interested party' seems to have gotten a little too close to you. We were hoping you'd come with us rather than go with them when they find you."

Bruce sighed. "So, I never really lost you guys?"

"Nope, you've been under the watchful eyes of SHEILD the entire time." Clint chimed in.

"That makes me feel so much better." Bruce rolled his eyes.

"So you'll come with us?" Clint asked.

"I don't see why not." Bruce said, getting up. He reached under the bed and pulled out a full backpack. "What? 'Be Prepared.' I was a boy scout once." He said when he saw their confused looks.

Clint just shrugged and climbed off his bed. "Alright, lets go."

They filed out the door and Bruce locked the door. They turned towards the stairs at the end of hallway, but it was blocked off by a group of people in black uniforms with guns.

Bruce started walking backwards towards the elevator at the other end of the hall, never taking his eyes of the guns. His heart was pounding, but he was able to keep control. "I guess we're taking the elevator…"

The band of people lunged towards them. Natasha and Clint stepped in front of Bruce preparing to defend him. Clint notched an arrowed and fired, taking out one of them and Natasha took out two more. Clint notched another arrow. "Run!" He called to Bruce and Bruce listened, running towards the elevator and pressing the button repeatedly.

"Clint, you go with him." Natasha yelled at him while punching one of them in the face.

"Aw Natasha. Do I have to? This is much more exciting!" Clint whined firing more arrows as he edge backwards towards the elevator.

"Clint!"

"Fine. You get all the fun." Clint sighed. The doors finally opened and Bruce jumped inside. Clint shot a few more arrows as the doors were closing.

"So…" Clint started. Bruce was breathing heavily next to him. "How does it feel to be back with the Earth's Mightiest Heroes?" He joked.

"You are making it very difficult to not turn into the Hulk and tear you apart." Bruce said trying to control his breathing. Clint shifted slightly and awkward pat Bruce's shoulder. Bruce finally let out a deep sigh. "Do you think Natasha's okay?"

"Yeah, she's fine. She's been in much worse." Clint reassured. The elevator doors slowly opened, Clint notched an arrow in preparation. No one in the lobby seemed to notice them. They slowly walked towards the door. As they walked out, a group of men in the same black uniforms ran passed.

"Quick. My motorcycle." Bruce said quietly, pointing to the old rundown motorcycle parked on the sidewalk. He climbed on, Clint sat on the bike behind him.

"Hey!" They heard of voice shout behind them. They looked to see one of them men pointing at them.

"Come on Banner! Let's go!" Clint yelled.

"I'm trying! I'm trying! It won't start!" Bruce panicked. He tried one last time, but it was obvious that it died.

"Forget it!" Clint yelled, grabbing Bruce's arm and pulling him off the bike. They ran through the traffic and weaving in and out of crowds of people as the men followed after them.

Clint pulled Bruce down an alley in hopes of losing them. He was wrong. They ran into literally a wall of people in uniform. Bruce fell backwards and quickly scrambled up as a man stepped forward.

"General Ross." Bruce said simply. He felt a small pinch on his neck. He reached up and pulled out a dart. His head started swimming

"Dr. Banner."

"Alright. Who do you think you are? You have authorizat-" Clint started, but he was knocked over the head with the butt of a gun and fell to the ground.

"Can't you just leave m-" Bruce began, but the words wouldn't come out right. The scene began to spin and he was falling. He blacked out before he hit the ground.

AN: Yeah, I'm honestly not sure where I'm going with this considering I really only had like two scenes planned out in my head... but we'll see where it goes. Thank-you everyone who read and liked it so far.

I slipped in an Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes quote if you can catch it. Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

"What do you mean 'they've been captured'? Wasn't that what you were trying to stop in the first place?" Tony Stark yelled. He already wasn't happy. He was dragged out of his lab while working on an important break through, he was _handed_ something, and now he was told that some of his best friends were missing.

"It means that someone took them. I thought you were a genius." Director Fury said sarcastically.

"Alright, so who took them so we can get suited up and go all Avenger on their ass and get Bruce and Clint back?" Tony asked.

"We-we don't know." Fury confessed.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T KNOW!?" Tony yelled.

"It means that the people we brought in were all mercenaries who didn't know who they were working for." Natasha explained.

"Are you serious? You guys are the worst _intelligence_ agency I've come across." Tony complained under his breath. He sat back, slouching in his chair with his arms cross, just listening to Natasha, Steve, and Fury, plot and speculate where Clint was. Clint's name was the only one being thrown around in their discussion, not Bruce's. He bet that they didn't really care Bruce was taken too. He finally had enough. "CLINT, Clint, Clint. It's all about Birdbrain!" Tony shouted, standing up. "They didn't even want Feathers, he's just collateral damage! They were after Bruce! They're probably going to try to control the Hulk to turn into a weapon or, or experiment on him to make more of him!"

"They can't exactly torture him for information on him because he'll Hulk out." Natasha pointed out, there was obvious restrain in her voice. "Sure, they wanted Bruce, but now that they have Clint, they have something else to control him. They'll torture Clint to get Bruce to comply because Bruce is too nice to let someone get hurt for him. Who know, they might even try to get information about SHEILD not that they have him. Clint is in just as much trouble as Bruce is."

Tony opened his mouth to respond, but Steve cut him off. "We have to stop arguing about who we should look for. They're both on our team and both are in danger." Tony shut his mouth and sat down. "Besides, they're most likely in the same place, if we find one of them, we'll find the other."

"So, do you have any ideas?" Fury asked. No one spoke up, Tony hadn't thought of anything clever yet. He was too mad that his friends were missing.

"We can use the thing we used to find Loki…" Steve suggested hesitantly.

"The facial recognition?"

"No, the thing Doctor Banner did. He looked for gamma rays by telling labs to put a machine on their roofs? Remember?" Steve said. "He said when he got a hit, he would know where the tesseract was within a mile."

"A half a mile." Tony said, still thinking. "I remember."

"I'm just suggesting maybe you can do that. Bruce must give off some sort of gamma radiation…" Steve finished.

"No, you're right Capsicle." Tony said. "It's just going to take longer than before."

"Why?" Fury asked.

"Because Birdbrain had a computer virus arrow and I don't have Bruce here to help me write a new program."

"Just do it as fast as you can. I'll start calling labs." Fury said. He got up and took out his phone. He was dialing a number when he walked out of the room, leaving a half of the Avengers to themselves.

"We'll find them guys." Steve said breaking the silence, Fury left them in.

"I'll be in the lab and see if we can't find Bruce's irradiated ass." Stark said, walking out of the conference room. He poked his head back in. "And Feathers for you." He winked at Natasha, who just rolled her eyes. Steve just sighed and shook his head.

Clint woke up in a large concrete room to the sound of the large metal door opening. This wasn't the first time he woke up here though. The first time he woke he ranted and raved and yelled for someone, anyone to let him out. That's usually what he does to get his captures attention; he tries to be annoying as possible to make them want to shut him up. He could get more information from them, then they can get from him. But, after hours and hours of screaming and no one coming, he tired himself out like a child having a temper tantrum and he fell back to sleep.

He quickly got up as someone was pushed through the door. It was slam shut again before Clint even had the chance to think about escaping through it. He ran up the door, ignoring his new cellmate.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing? Come back! I am a very important person! You NEED me!" Clint yelled banging on the door, trying to get the person to come back. He turned to the person who now occupied the cell with him. He had sat down on the floor, leaning up against the wall. "Bruce?" He looked up at Clint. He had a pretty bad black eye and a split lip.

"Hey Clint." Bruce said smiling up at him.

"Aw, Brucie." Clint said, sitting down next to him, who shifted away from him slightly. "What did they do to you?"

"The split lip and these," He said lifting his hands which were in obnoxiously large block handcuffs, "are from trying to run. The black eye is from spitting on General Ross' shoes." He smiled.

"Good for you, Bruce." Clint chuckled. "Do you know for someone who is always so nervous about being caught, you are surprisingly calm." Clint stated.

Bruce frowned. "Yeah, you're right. I'm pretty they slipped me some anti anxiety stuff into me." He tried to cross his arms, he frowned in frustration when he couldn't because of the handcuffs. "Well, this is extremely annoying." He played with it a little. "These are pretty loose. I think I can-" He tried to pull his hand free, but when his hand was almost out, he was shocked, bad. "Shit! Ow!"

"Bruce, are you okay?" Clint asked.

"Yeah." Bruce said through clenched teeth. "Just dandy."

A slot in the door opened up and a tray of food was shoved into the cell. Both Clint and Bruce got up, Clint moved towards the food, Bruce to a bench on the other side of the room.

"Have you eaten?" Bruce asked.

"No. Have you?" Clint asked back.

"Yeah, they gave me something." Bruce lied. "I'm not hungry anyways."

Clint just shrugged and started eating. He knew Bruce was lying, but he was too hungry to argue. He just made sure there was enough left after he finished for Bruce to eat. Meanwhile Bruce continued to play with his cuffs. He was so close to getting out, but he kept getting shocked. No matter how much he tried to get away, there was no escape, wasn't that the motif of his life. He laughed. He finally built up enough courage to just pull them off despite the pain. He used his feet as leverage and pushed, pulling his hands out at the same time. The shock was continuous and the pain was tremendous. He gritted his teeth, but a scream escaped. He heard a chunk of metal hit the floor and the shock stopped, although the pain didn't. He looked at his wrists and hands to check the damage. They were bloodied and there were burn marks from the shocks.

"Bruce?" Bruce looked up. He didn't realize that Clint had come over to him. He was reaching towards his wrists.

"No!" Bruce yelled, a little too loud and a little too quick as he flinched away. Clint moved back. "No" He said calmer. "They're fine."

Bruce picked up the handcuffs and threw them at the wall with more strength then he should have. They left a sizable dent in the wall. "I'm going to sleep." His voice had an inhuman rumble behind each word. He laid down and turned his back to Clint.

Clint sat down on the bench on the opposite side of the room; he tried to think of a way out. His eyes kept wandering to Bruce. He was completely still, except every once and awhile he was shake. Clint wonder if he was asleep and having a nightmare or pretending to sleep and quietly crying. Clint was an assassin; he didn't know how to deal with either. So he kept wondering and plotting an escape until he fell asleep himself.

* * *

AN: So, here's the next chapter. I hope you like it. Please read and review.

Oh yeah, I don't own anything BTW. It's all Marvel's. I'm just throwing it out there.


	4. Chapter 4

Clint was fiddling with the handcuffs when Bruce woke up. He'd been in lock up and labs while on the run, so he'd gotten used to sleeping in these kinds of situation. Clint had been in situations like this before, but they give him an adrenaline rush, he can never relax, his mind was always racing so he couldn't sleep.

"Do you know a girl came looking for at Stark tower while you were away." Clint said looking up from the handcuffs. He was trying to make small talk, he couldn't stand the silence anymore. Bruce looked confused. "Yeah, she said she saw you on the news and figured you would be there. Or that we'd know where you were."

"Who?" Bruce yawned.

"Her name was Betty."

Bruce laughed and smiled, but the smile and his eyes were sad. "I would have been in here a lot earlier then!"

"What do you mean?" Clint asked confused.

"It was Betty Ross right?" Bruce asked. Clint nodded. "The only daughter of one General Ross? The one who hunted me down and is holding us here?"

"Oh! Oh man, that sucks!" Clint said when he realized what was going on. "I thought it was just a crazy random happenstance that they had the same last name." Clint shook his head thinking about it. "Damn, Bruce you have literally the _worst _luck. There is literally one girl a guy shouldn't fall for and it's the daughter of archenemy! Just… wow…"

"Yes, thank-you for reminding me." Bruce joked, but still looked sad.

Clint felt bad, so he shut up and went back to fiddling. Suddenly, the lock on the door started to jiggle. He had a plan, but he wasn't expecting someone to come so soon so he hadn't told Bruce yet.

"Ok, eu tenho um plano. Eu vou bater-lhe na cabeça com estes e então eu vou colocá-los sobre ele. Entendeu? (Okay, I have a plan. I'm going to hit him over the head with these. And then I'm going to put them on him. Got it?)" Clint spoke quickly in Portuguese. He knew Bruce spent time in Brazil.

"O quê? (What?)" Bruce asked. Clint wasn't sure if that was a what, to his plan or because he didn't understand him.

"Então, nós vamos correr como o inferno. (And then we're going to run like hell.)" Clint smiled at him, getting up and preparing himself.

"Clint, não. Você está com fome? (Clint, no. Are you hungry?) Bruce said.

"Fome? (Hungry?)" Clint asked.

"I mean, doido? (Crazy?) Bruce said.

"Oh, that makes more sense and yes." Clint said smiling at him. The door opened, blocking the person coming in's view of Clint. He hit the man over the head and he dropped the ground, Clint quickly put the handcuffs on the unconscious man. He took the man's gun and ran towards the door. Bruce didn't follow, he just kind of sat there in shock. "God, Bruce! COME ON!" Clint grabbed him by the collar, pulling him up and out the door.

The hallway was deserted. Clint had no idea where they were or how to get out. "Bruce, do you remember anything from before you got to that room?" Clint asked.

"Yeah, we came from the left and there were stairs only going down, so I think we should go right." Bruce suggested.

"Fine! Keep moving." Clint said still pulling Bruce behind him. They ran down the hallway stopping at every intersection to make sure the coast was clear. They made a couple of random turns along the way. They made it pretty far until they both heard the familiar sound of boots and guns clicking into place behind them. "Freeze!"

Bruce complied, but Clint burst into action. He knocked a majority of the guns out of the guard's hands. Clint may be better at long-range weapons, but he was a master of hand-to-hand combat. Bruce kind of just sat back and watched Clint do all the work. He couldn't run, he couldn't just leave Clint behind. It wasn't until guards came from the other end of the hallway and one came at Bruce with a tranq gun, did he move. He knocked the gun out of his hand and flipped the guard onto his back.

"Where'd you learn how to do that?" Clint asked while taking on two guards at once.

"I didn't just learn a little Portuguese during my time in Brazil." Bruce said as another guard charged forward. "I picked up a little jiu-jitsu for some self-defense and breathing exercises."

Clint had taken a gun and started using that, he took another one and tried to hand it to Bruce for him to use, but Bruce just dropped. He hadn't killed anything with one before, including himself, and he wasn't about to start now.

"Bruce!" Clint yelled. It was a 10 on 1 fight. He could handle up to 10 on a good day, but today was not a good day, he needed help. Bruce took out the guy he was fighting and turned to help Clint, when he felt a familiar pinch in his neck, he took out a dart.

"Damnit! NO!" Bruce yelled. He tried to work up his adrenaline, just enough to counteract the tranqulizer, but not enough to bring the other guy out. He was able to help Clint out a little, taking out one or two men before his moves started to get sluggish. A couple of guards jumped on him, pinning him to the ground. He continued to struggle to get them off until he finally passed out from the drugs.

Clint kept fighting, he would pull a guard off Bruce, but another would appear. Suddenly a bullet grazed his leg, cutting pretty deep. He finally just tackled as many guards off of Bruce as he could. He just kept punching until they stopped moving, then a gun slammed into the back of his head and he went down.

* * *

Clint woke up in room larger than the first room he woke up in. It was large and white except for the black catwalks and vents. If only he could get up there, he could get out of here and get help. But, there was no way up. His entire body ached as if the guards continued to beat the crap out of him after he was passed out. He got up and did a few lunges to stretch out his aching body.

Suddenly an intercom squeaked on. "_Thank-you for finally waking up and joining us, Hawkeye. You can finally help us preform our experiment._"

"And what would that experiment be?" Clint asked the disembodied voice. "How can one guy be so incredibly handsome and so talented at the same time?"

"_No, to see if we can control the Hulk into not smashing you into a million pieces."_

"Oh, that's kind of you."

"_And then we're going to see if we can control him _into_ smashing you into a million pieces."_

"Okay, not so kind…"

A door that Clint didn't even realize was there, opened and Bruce was pushed in. He had a large metal headband and a metal collar around his neck.

"Hey Brucie."

"Clint, I'm sorry."

"Why? I think we did pretty good. We got pretty far. Who knew you could fight like that?" Clint said, avoiding what Bruce was really sorry about.

"You know what I mean." He said sullenly.

"I don't think it will end up that bad. Jade Jaws like me! He didn't bother me once in New York. He even listen to me when I talked to him."

"Clint, it was once! You saw him and he met you ONCE! Plus, that was a controlled change, in much more favorable conditions." Bruce tried to explain.

"Bruce, I know you're pessimistic about pretty much everything. But, listen to me, trust me. I trust you which mean I trust him, I know you won't hurt me and neither will he."

"Clint, just cause you have trust in me doesn't stop the fact that the other guy is an unstoppable destroying machine." Bruce said pulling at the collar on his neck. Suddenly, Bruce screamed, the band around his head was shocking him. I was ten times worse than the handcuffs. He fell to his knees and Clint ran over to him.

"This is not good." Bruce said trying to catch his breath.

"_Doctor Banner, will you please stop playing adrenaline collar?"_

"Oh, this is much worse." Bruce said through clenched teeth. "Clint, get as far away from me as possible and try to stay still. Also don't be afraid, he can smell fear and he doesn't like it."

"Don't worry, I won't be afraid."

"_Are you ready to being the experiment?"_

"Not particularly." Clint yelled back.

"_Too bad."_

A needle inside the collar stabbed Bruce in the neck. He could feel the liquid be pumped into his veins, pure adrenaline. He tried his hardest to keep his heart rate down, but with the chemical in him, it was impossible. The transformation was more painful than it usually was. He wanted to keep fighting it, to try to protect Clint, but he couldn't for long. He had to let go and let the other guy take over. Maybe he could punch his way out for them and do minimal damage to Clint.

Clint had only seen Bruce change once and it was nothing like this. The first time it was one fluid motion, one second Bruce was there, the next the Hulk was standing in Bruce's place. This looked painful, like Bruce was trying to stop the inevitable. Once the transformation was over, the Hulk just stood there bellowing and yelling at nothing. He didn't even notice Clint was there.

Suddenly the Hulk screamed even louder. Clint could see the sparks fly from the headband. The Hulk struggled desperately trying to rip off the band around his head, but his fingers were too large to get underneath it. Something glistened on the ground that caught Clint's eye. It was sharp piece of metal that broke off the adrenaline collar when Bruce changed. If he could get above the Hulk, he could try to break the headband with this.

The Hulk was distracted getting frustrated punching the wall that wouldn't crumble. He took a deep breath and ran near the Hulk to grab the metal piece. He held the piece between and ran, jumped off the wall on to the Hulk's back. The Hulk stood up straighter, which brought Clint closer to the catwalk. He jumped up and grabbed the bottom of the catwalk before the Hulk could grab him. The Hulk roared and the headband shocked him again. He continued to punch at the wall.

Clint watched the Hulk for a minute, trying to get his aim just right. And then he jumped off the catwalk and on to the Hulk's head, who bellowed. He stabbed the piece of metal repeatedly into the headband until it finally broke off. Clint half jumped, half thrown to the ground. The Hulk's roars and bellowing turned into grunts and heavy breathing.

"Hulk?" Clint said. The Hulk turned quickly, winding up a punch and really to roar again, but he stopped when he saw Clint.

"Katniss?" The Hulks voice rumbled.

"Ha! Where did you hear that one?" Clint laughed.

"Tin man." The Hulk answered.

"Oh right." He forgot how Tony kept making Hunger Games jokes after he woke up from his fall. Everyone blamed his concussion, but Clint thought Tony actually thought he was being clever. Clint forgot that the Hulk was there. "How are you Hulk?" Clint asked. "And how's Bruce?"

"Bruce scared. Don't like here. Hulk don't like here too." The Hulk grumbled. "Hulk punch. Wall won't smash." He said frustrated.

"I think you might be able to smash that." He said pointing up. "And if you give me a ride I might be able to get you out of this place."

The Hulk smiled and stood moderately still as Clint climbed on. The Hulk jumped up pulling down half of the catwalk while Clint was finally high enough to reach the vent. He knocked off the cover, but didn't have enough time to get in. The Hulk jumped again ripping down more of the catwalk, Clint jumped off and climbed into the air vent.

Guards started pouring in, shooting the Hulk with tranq guns. He swatted most of them a way, but enough were embedded in him to put him out. The Hulk looked up at Clint with sad eyes, as if to say he had trusted him to get him out too.

"Don't worry buddy." Clint yelled to the Hulk. "I'll going to get help and I will be back to get you out. I promise."

Clint could swear the Hulk had nodded to him as if he understood. He slowly turned back into Bruce as the tranqs took full effect. Clint turned to leave before he could see what they did with Bruce's unconscious body. He started into the vents, hoping to find away out before anyone could find him.

* * *

AN: It might be awhile until I post again. I go back to school tomorrow and I have a full busy schedule this semester so I don't think I'll have enough time to write until the next break. I'll try to write and post as soon as possible though.

I hope this chapter is good enough to hold you over! Thanks for reading so far!


	5. Chapter 5

Bruce woke with a start. The bright light above him blinded him and he quickly shut his eyes. He blinked a couple of times for his eyes to adjust.

"Clint?" His voice was hoarse.

"He's not here Banner." A horrifyingly familiar voice said. Bruce tried to move away from the voice, but his arms were bound to the table.

"Where is he?" Bruce questioned. "What did you do to him, Ross?"

"I didn't do anything to him." Ross smirked. "You did."

"What do you mean?"

"You killed him."

"What?" Bruce said, trying to wrap his head around the idea that Clint was gone. "Clint's dead?"

"You don't remember?" Ross asked. "You crushed him."

"Crushed?" Bruce whispered to himself.

"Like a grape."

"He crushed-" Bruce started.

"You." Ross interrupted. "Bruce, you. You crushed him. You are that beast. And that's why you're here. So you can't hurt anyone else."

Bruce was silent for a minute and General Ross turned to leave.

"If I'm so dangerous, why don't you just lock me up and throw away the key?" Bruce questioned. "Why are you trying to make more of me?"

"I'm not trying to make more of you, I'm going to make an improved you. Something I can control, since I failed to control you. After we run our tests, figure how to make a better you, then we'll lock you up and throw away the key." General Ross patted Bruce on the shoulder, Bruce tried to flinch away, but he couldn't. Ross finally left, but the room was filled with people in lab coats and facemasks.

"We're going to run a series of experiments on you to see exactly what your body can withstand." They explained to him. Bruce zoned them out. He couldn't care less about what they were going to do. He deserved it, he killed Clint and countless other innocent people since he turned into Other Guy. His only regret was that they're going to make more of him. "First series is how your body deals with incisions including cuts to the major arteries."

"No. No, you can't." Bruce protest. "My blood is irradiated. Its toxic, if it gets on you…" Of course, he cares about the people who were literally going to cut him open and rip him apart. He did want to hurt anybody else.

"We have that covered." The guy with the scalpel said. "Let's begin."

Bruce clenched his teeth and balled his hands into fists as the scalpel plunged into his skin. He deserved it, he told himself again and again. He knew it was only going to get worse later on, so he took it as a blessing that they started him off easy.

He hoped the team wasn't looking for him; he didn't want to be the one to tell Natasha that he killed Clint.

* * *

Clint spent 5 hours hiding and crawling through the ventilation system of the building that imprisoned both himself and Bruce.

_Bruce_. He feels awful for leaving, the Hulk looked like he was counting on him, that he trusted him. If he didn't get him out, if he broke the Hulk's trust, he would never get it back. He probably wouldn't get Bruce's trust back either.

He had to get out, he was the only one who could, he told himself again and again. He would get help and he would safe Bruce.

He finally slipped out of the building and hopped a fence, the military complex and Bruce behind him. He knew he was going into the desert, but it was the only way out.

He set out into the desert far enough away from the road that if anyone was going to the compound, they wouldn't recognized him.

Little did he know, that 6 miles in the opposite direction, was Las Vegas.

* * *

Bruce was breathing heavy after recovering from being poisoned.

"Alright, next is the cyanide experiment."

"No… please…" Bruce said weakly, practically inaudible.

They shoved a pill into his mouth and forced him to bite down on it. The affects were almost instantaneous. His mouth foamed and his body convulsed.

_Please Clint hurry!_ He cried to himself. _Oh God. He's dead. He isn't coming back. I killed him._

In the back of his mind, the Hulk roar furiously, beating on an invisible wall set up in Bruce's mind to hold him. Bruce prayed he would break it, he wanted nothing more for the pain to stop.

The constant pounding of the Hulk and the pain coming from the poison was finally too much for Bruce to handle and he blacked out.

* * *

Clint had been lost in the desert for 3 days living off of lizards he caught and drinking the juice from cactuses. He wasn't a boy scout when he was younger, but he learned how to survive from the mandatory SHEILD survival classes.

He finally stumbled upon a small town, where a nice elderly couple invited him, gave him a nice tall drink of water, and let him us their phone.

After 20 minutes of being rerouted, he finally got a hold of Stark.

"Who is this? What do you want?" Tony said when he finally answered the phone.

"Always a charmer, Stark."Clint said sarcastically.

"Clint? Where are you? Is Bruce okay?" Stark said suddenly concerned.

"I don't know where I am, but they have Bruce."

* * *

AN: I'm sorry I took so long to update, but school's crazy and I needed an actual break during my spring break. But I got one chapter out and I have the rest of them planned, so when I have the time, I'll finish it up.

Read and review, if you like it, I guess... :]


	6. Chapter 6

"Alright Banner, its time for the pure sulfuric acid." Dr. Sims, the man in charge of experiments on Bruce, said practically menacingly. They have been working their way through increasing concentrations of different acids. His skin had barely enough time to recover from the last experiment, but he reluctantly nodded. It not like he had a choice anyways, he was strapped down to a cold metal table with his legs and arms tied down. "Okay, get this down." He said turning to his scribe, some poor kid in his late twenties who was probably a grad student. "Experiment 14, test 23. Pure sulfuric acid on a one square inch area of skin."

Dr. Sims held the beaker full of acid over his arm. He didn't even try to fight. He was just too tired from days of experimentation and torture. His body was tired from shaking and healing the cuts and burns. Bruce just looked away, closing his eyes, he didn't need to see his skin be melted away because of the acid.

Suddenly, the door was kicked open and something metal ricocheted off the all and echoed. Dr. Sims jumped, dropping the beaker of acid all over Bruce's arm. Bruce screamed through his clenched teeth.

"Who do you think-" Dr. Sims started.

"If you had any sense, you would remove yourself from the room. All of you." A familiar voice interrupted. Apparently no one disagreed with the voice because there was a sound of rustling and then a door slamming.

Bruce struggled to against the chains holding him down, doing anything to try and stop the burning on his arm. "Dr. Banner!" The voice yelled. A hand touched Bruce's shoulder.

"No, no! Stop! Don't touch it! Don't touch it!" Bruce yelled. "Please listen, you can't! Don't touch it! Stop!"

"Doctor Banner, doctor Banner, please. It's me, it's Steve. You're safe now. Bruce please stop calm down." Steve pleaded.

"No. You don't understand. Don't touch it. My blood is toxic, its irradiated. Steve, you can't touch it, you can't." He finally opened his eyes. He looked at Steve because he could bear look down at his arm.

"Bruce. What can I do?" Steve asked. He looked desperate to help.

"The IV, rip it open and pour it on my arm try to get as much of the acid off as possible. Try to find gauze or something to wrap it with too." Bruce explained. Steve pouring the fluid from the IV only gave moment of relief before the burning pain came back. Steve started to go through cupboards when the door was blasted off and Tony came in, Iron Man suit and all.

"Bruce! You're okay!" Tony said. He lifted up the face plate and looked him over when he quickly noticed the huge burn and melted skin on Bruce's arm. "Shit, shit. Not okay."

"Its fine, don't worry about it now." Bruce said.

"How can I not worry about it!?" Tony exclaimed.

"Tony, I heal fast." Bruce explained. "Just get me out of these."

Tony got the message and quickly broke the chains of the cuffs with the suit. Bruce quickly sat up, and immediately regretted it. He felt lightheaded. Steve handed Bruce a handful of gauze and gauze pads. He carefully wrapped up the arm. There was a commotion upstairs and then someone started down the stairs. Bruce subconsciously scooted away from the door. Suddenly a voice that of someone Bruce thought was dead came from the stairs, "Guys, did you find him? Me and Natasha are on our own up there." And then Clint came out of the stairwell. Bruce couldn't say anything, his mind wasn't working. He just stared. "There you are buddy. I told you I would come back." Clint smiled at him.

Bruce didn't get up, he froze where he was sitting. "Wha-what?" Clint was dead. The Hulk killed him. How was he here? How did they find him? This was probably just some drug/pain dream. He was hallucinating.

"Bruce, what's the matter? It looks like you seen a ghost." Tony joked.

"Cl-Clint. You're de-" Bruce started still wide-eyed.

"Hey, I know you're having a little bro club moment." A voice, Natasha, yelled down the stairwell. "But, I have my hands full and one's making their way downstairs can you handle that?"

Clint quickly pulled an arrow from his quiver and moved towards the stairs. "Look, I don't want to hurt you. Just turn around and pretend you didn't see anything." Clint said to the person coming down the stairs.

"Bruce!" A voice Bruce immediately knew.

"Wait!" Bruce said to Clint. Clint turned slightly towards him, turning his attention to him. Suddenly he yelled.

"Ow, shit! She punched me!"

"Bruce." And there she was right in front of him. Betty.

"Betty." He jumped of the table to stand. His mind was racing. What was happening? Clint was dead. Betty should be nowhere near him. The team shouldn't be looking for him.

His mind was cloudy, his heart was racing, he couldn't breath right. People were talking, but he couldn't hear them, it was like his ears were muted. He was so overwhelmed, his body couldn't take it anymore. His legs crumbled beneath him. As he fell, his head collided with the metal table before anyone could catch him, and his world went black.

* * *

Oh hey... I'm sure you all hate me because I haven't update in like months. I'm sorry, life's been busy... But ta-da here's an update!

I hope you like it! Read and review and what not!

I'll update soon! I promise!


	7. Chapter 7

Bruce woke with a start. He opened his eyes and quickly shut them because the world was too bright and too white.

Great, he thought, I'm dead, exactly what I wanted, but I really don't think I should be in Heaven though.

He blinked to adjust to the light. Nope, not Heaven, just an empty hospital room. Why would Ross want him in a hospital? Wouldn't he be afraid that he would destroy it?

He sat up expecting to be tied down but he was pleasantly surprised that he wasn't. He waited for someone to rush him and drug him back to sleep, but no one came. This is it. His chance to escape.

In the back of his mind the idea that this was a trap crept out, but he pushed thought back. He didn't want to go back to being experimented on. He wanted to go back to Brazil. Or maybe go some where new like India. Bruce didn't usually get what he wanted, but damnit, this time he will!

He quickly undid his IV and unplugged himself from all the machines. When he got up he realized he was wearing a hospital robe, he wasn't going to make his great escape in a hospital robe. He slipped out of his room and into the nurses locker room. Luckily no one was in there. He ditched the robe and grabbed a pair of scrub bottoms, a plain white shirt, sneakers and a hoodie. He causally made his way to the elevator and put his hood up once inside to hide his face.

He nonchalantly made his way across the lobby, just as a large group of people came through the door. He pulled his hood a little farther as he made his way passed them.

"Bruce?" A voice came from behind him. He froze and cursed to himself and at himself. He shouldn't have stopped, now they would know. He kept walking, he prayed that it was a case of mistaken identity, but nope because another voice called out his name. The panic seeped in and Bruce ran.

"Bruce! Bruce buddy, stop, come back!" Another voice called out, but Bruce wasn't going to stop, ever, he was getting out of there.

He sprinted through the doors, knocking a few people out of the way doing so. He paused to check his surroundings. A crowded city, wonderful. He heard people calling his name, asking him to stop, and they were getting closer. He quickly turned and ran.

He knew that they were still following, so he turned corners abruptly, crossed streets, and knocked over trash cans. Anything to slow his pursuers down. He hadn't run this much or this fast since Ross was after him in Brazil, hopefully he wouldn't get away the same way.

Bruce turned down an alley. There was a chain-link fence halfway down, but he could make it. He had climbed higher. He made it to fence and was about to start climbing, when a voice stopped him. He couldn't make it over with someone so close.

"Bruce please." The voice pleaded. He turned around and saw a women with short red hair, she didn't have a gun out, but he could tell there was one on her. This was new though, usually it's a bunch of large men with large guns, he thought.

She kept moving towards him and he backed up against the fence, he looked like a terrified trapped animal. He put his hands up, but they were shaking. "Look," He tried to say confidently while trying to catch his breath, "I don't want to hurt you."

"Bruce, I don't want to hurt you either." She said calmly.

That was a lie and that made him mad. They were hunting him down, they might as well be honest with him. "Really?" He spat. "Then why are you chasing me down to take me back to Ross? If you don't want to hurt me, then let me go." He said, his voice shaking with fear with slightest bit of anger.

"Bruce, why do you-" The women paused, thinking about what he said. She kept walking towards him though and Bruce couldn't back up anymore. He was trapped. "Do you know who I am?"

"No, of course not." He said bitterly. "Don't usually go around getting on a first name basis with the people who hunt me."

"Oh, Bruce…" She said sadly. Bruce frowned and grew a little madder. He didn't need her pity, just for her to go away. "You don't remember me?" She questioned again. He frowned again and shook his head. "I'm Nata- Bruce! Your arm." She started.

Bruce looked down, there was blood soaking through his sweatshirt. He lifted up the sleeve and saw blood soaked gauze. How did this happen? Bruce didn't remember, his head wasn't working right.

Bruce felt a hand on his shoulder. He used the little Brazilian jiu jitsu he knew and took her hand and flipped her. Usually Natasha could defend herself again anyone, but she was caught off guard. She hit the ground, hard.

"Shit, I'm sorry." He said, but she didn't move. Something shot passed his head and hit a trash can behind him. That was a little more familiar. He looked at the trashcan and found an arrow embedded it. He followed the line of trajectory up to find a man on top of the building with a bow. His first thought was 'that man should be dead', but he quickly pushed thought away.

"I'm sorry, Bruce." The man said. Bruce just looked at him confused. There was a hiss from behind him, he turned to find the gas coming the arrow. He looked back up at the man. "I'm sorry."

Bruce pulled the shirt up over his mouth. "I'm sorry." He said again to the women and she stirred a little. He quickly scrambled over the fence. He looked back to watch as he ran. The man jumped down from the building and pulled the women out of the way of the gas.

Because his head was turned, he ran straight into someone. Two giant arms held him.

"NO! No, please. Please let me go! Please!" Bruce pleaded desperately as he struggled against man holding him. "Let me go! Please! Just let me go!" He yelled and slipped out of the person's hold. He stumbled backwards and tripped over a row of trash bags. He fell backwards, hitting his head on the brick wall of the building with a deafening crack.

"Dr. Banner, are you okay?" Steve said trying to help him up.

Bruce slowly got up, his hand going straight to the back of his head. He looked at who was helping him. "Steve?" Then suddenly he remembered everything. It was like the floodgates opened and all these memories flooded into his mind. He probably just hurt Natasha, Clint was supposed to be dead, but again he was alive, his team actually came to rescue him.

Everything coming back to him made his head swim, plus the pain from hitting his head, it was too overwhelming. It caused Bruce to black out again.

Steve caught him before he fell again, just as Tony flew into the alley with his suit. He lifted his faceplate up. "God, Steve. What did you do to him?" He joked.

"Shut up Tony. He hit his head." He explained, annoyed. "Can you help me with him?"

* * *

Yay I got another chapter done without months in between! I'm getting better at not torturing you guys as much!

I hope you guys like it! Please read and review and whatnot.


End file.
